Supreme Court video series features veterans courts

Veterans’ struggles with substance
abuse and emotional trauma end in victory in “Help for Heroes,” the newest
episode in Court Stories, the Michigan Supreme Court’s online video series.

“Help for Heroes” features
interviews with veterans who completed the 17th District Court’s “Veterans Court” program in Redford.
17th District Court Chief Judge Karen Khalil said she started the program after seeing offenders
come before her who were veterans or on leave from military service.

“Not all veterans’ wounds are
visible; some are emotional and mental, and these need

healing just as physical wounds do,”
noted Khalil. “Some of my cases involved offenders who were suffering from post-traumatic
stress disorder or were using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate, and they got
in trouble with the law as a result. It was clear to me that they needed, and deserved,
a better response than just being locked up.”

Veterans’ courts focus on
counseling, mental health treatment, and other services to get at the root of
offenders’ destructive behaviors. Each veteran works with a mentor who is also
a veteran, explained Judge David Jordon, who started a veterans’ court at the
54B District Court in East Lansing.

Jordon, now retired, recalled how a
veteran suffered a flashback as police quelled a riot in East Lansing. “He
thought he was back in Iraq. His training, and the stress of being in combat situations,
had hard-wired him for that kind of response -- the kind of behavior that got
him arrested,” Jordon said.

“When they sign up, people in
military service sign a blank check to the U.S. to give

everything up to and including their
lives,” Jordon added. “How can we not give back to them?”

The veterans’ court program is not
easy, and demands hard work and commitment from participants, the judges said.

“It’s a lot harder to do 18 months
of probation, counseling, and all the other requirements than it is to do a
short stint in jail,” Jordon observed.

Veterans who complete all the
requirements of a veterans’ court program avoid

incarceration,
“but much more importantly, they break the cycle of destructive behavior that would
otherwise lead to repeated offenses and incarceration,” Khalil added. “Veterans
court graduates are less likely to reoffend, and the program saves money,
compared to the cost of jails and prisons. Veterans court is good for veterans,
it’s good for taxpayers, and it’s good for the community.”

Design and editing for “Help for
Heroes” was provided by Michigan Creative in East

Lansing. Court Stories tells the
everyday stories of Michigan courts and the people they serve. The series is on the “Michigan Courts” YouTube
channel and on the Court’s web site.New Court Storiesvideos will be announced
as they are posted to the “Michigan Courts”

YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/MichiganCourts?feature=plcp,
and the